NEVER A BRIDGE TOO FAR

Contract bridge, or simply bridge — a four-player card game — a sport? Perish the thought, many die-hard sports fans may say. But if a sport is defined by the guts, spirit and willpower of its players, then national player Tan Yoke Lan made a convincing case for it on her way to a SEA Games gold in 2011.

She defied both age and ailment when she — partnering Seet Choon Cheng — won the women’s pairs event that year. At the Jayakarta Hotel in Palembang, Indonesia, the two women screamed, hugged and cried after their success. It capped one of the most heart-warming stories in Singapore sports that year.

The dark months that Yoke Lan suffered before the competition in Palembang seemed so far away. In September 2011, the housewife and grandmother was diagnosed with stage two breast cancer. The timing couldn’t be worse as she was due to compete in the biennial SEA Games.

Yoke Lan, who was trained as a nurse, had to immediately go for a total mastectomy and needed time to recover at home. Against the advice of her doctors, however, she chose to delay chemotherapy to kill the remaining cancer cells in her body.

She knew she was risking her recovery with this delay. But she decided that she would still make the trip to Palembang. What kept her going was a desire not to let her team mates down. She also wanted to do something for a sport she has loved and enjoyed for some 30 years since first picking it up in Taiwan when she had to follow her husband for his overseas posting there.

She explains, “It’s not often that our sport gets featured in major competitions. So I didn’t want to let the opportunity of taking part in the SEA Games slip away. Doing well in it would be a great way to promote bridge.”

Recalling her journey in 2011, the self-described “fighter” admits she also doesn’t know where her strength and determination came from. The road was by no means easy. A week after her operation, she resumed training at home with her partner Choon Cheng by using online software.

Cancer did make the whole process difficult. It was not always possible to put the life-threatening condition aside. Indeed, although bridge is not physical, the competition at the SEA Games lasted up to 10 hours a day. It proved physically challenging for the recovering patient, who suffered dizzy spells and had to rest frequently between rounds. To keep her fitness up while recovering, she made sure she climbed the six floors up to her hotel room in Palembang daily.

Amazingly, her spirits remained high throughout the competition, despite her health and the daunting “long walk” of chemotherapy awaiting her when she returned home after the Games.

Today, more than three years after her 2011 experience, Yoke Lan remains active as a bridge player. Since Palembang, she has competed in countries like China, France and the Philippines and is involved in the Singapore Contract Bridge Association to promote her sport.

A Roman Catholic, she sees the hand of God not only in big moments of her life — like in 2011 when she had cancer and won gold in the SEA Games — but also in everyday living. “You learn to rely on Him in all things — big and small. And you draw strength from the belief that Someone is always looking out for you,” says Yoke Lan, who enjoys singing in the church choir and driving her grandchildren around for their enrichment classes.